Congressional Research Service Reports - 1,190 Matching Results
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- The United States as a Net Debtor Nation: Overview of the International Investment Position
- This report outlines concerns about the US net international investment position because of the role foreign investors are playing in US capital markets and the potential for large outflows of income and services payments. Some observers also argue that the US reliance on foreign capital inflows leaves the economy vulnerable to financial crises.
- Trade Capacity Building: Foreign Assistance for Trade and Development
- This report describes trade capacity building and discusses the history of TCB in foreign assistance. It also provides an overview of U.S. bilateral TCB assistance, as well as multilateral and bilateral TCB assistance from other donors. There is also a discussion of legislation affecting TCB, including appropriations and legislative restrictions on foreign assistance. Finally, this report highlights some of the policy issues concerning TCB.
- Bond Insurers: Issues for the 110th Congress
- This report begins with a description of the bond insurance industry and its business model, including the relatively recent move into providing insurance for asset-backed securities.An Analysis of the current market difficulties follows along with the various possibilities of spillover effects.Finally, a number of broader policy questions are briefly discussed.
- Insurance Guaranty Funds
- This report describes generally how state-based insurance guaranty funds operate currently. It also compares the extant insurance system to protections offered bank depositors, potential and current pensioners, and credit union participants.
- Economic Factors Affecting Small Business Lending and Loan Guarantees
- This report lists some sources of information about the condition of the small business loan market.
- Averting Financial Crisis
- This report is about Averting a Financial crisis.
- Federal Business Taxation: The Current System, Its Effects, and Options for Reform
- No Description Available.
- Estate Taxes and Family Businesses: Economic Issues
- The report discusses an uncapped exemption and an uncapped exemption targeted at liquidity issues.
- Tax Provisions of the Economic Stimulus Package
- This report describes the economic stimulus package, P.L. 110-185, which contained two major components: individual tax rebates costing an estimated $117 billion in FY2008 and FY2009, and depreciation provisions (bonus depreciation and small business expensing costing an estimated $46.3 billion. This report describes the stimulus package's major components and their likely impacts as an economic stimulus.
- Coal Mine Safety and Health
- This report gives an overview of Safety and Health Conditions in the Coal Mining industry, regulatory regime, and Legislative activity ( MINER act and S-MINER act)
- Financial Institutions and Markets: Major Federal Statutes
- This report provides brief summaries of the major federal laws affecting financial institutions and markets.
- Iraq: Oil and Gas Legislation, Revenue Sharing, and U.S. Policy
- This report reviews the package of legislation currently under consideration, analyzes the positions of various Iraqi political actors, and discusses potential implications for U.S. foreign policy goals in Iraq.
- Insurance Regulation: Major Interest Groups
- This report is intended to assist in understanding the issues inherent in creating a federal system of insurance regulation by providing some insight into the interests of organizations most involved in the issue.
- Federal Advertising Law: An Overview
- This report provides a brief overview of federal law with respect to six selected advertising issues: alcohol advertising, tobacco advertising, the federal trade commission act, advertising by mail, advertising by telephone, and commercial e-mail.
- The Use of Profit by the Five Major Oil Companies
- This report analyzes the uses of accrued profits by the five major integrated oil companies from 2004 through 2007.
- Campaign Finance Reform: Regulating Political Communications on the Internet
- This is a report on Campaign Finance Reform, specifically Regulating Political Communications on the Internet.
- House Floor Activity: The Daily Flow of Business
- This report briefly explains the daily flow of business on the House floor.
- Understanding Mortgage Foreclosure: Recent Events, the Process, and Costs
- This report collects information from other studies to obtain an estimate of the average foreclosure costs. A brief discussion of the effect uniform foreclosure legislation may have on costs follows.
- Aviation Finance: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization and Related Issues
- This report addresses Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization and Related Issues related to Aviation Finance.
- The Pattern of Interest Rates: Does it Signal an Impending Recession?
- The cyclical behavior of the economy is of great interest to Congress, yet the onset of an economic downturn is seldom recognized promptly. Policymakers frequently search for reliable recession predictors. The behavior of interest rates may provide advanced warning of an impending downturn. The easing of monetary policy in evidence since September 2007 is consistent with efforts to forestall or minimize an economic downturn. Economic growth has been low since the last quarter of 2007, and some forecasters are now predicting a recession in 2008.
- Health and Safety Concerns Over U.S. Imports of Chinese Products: An Overview
- China is a major source of U.S. imports of consumer products (such as toys) and an increasingly important supplier of various food products. Reports of unsafe seafood, pet food, toys, tires, and other products imported from China over the past year or so have raised concern in the United States over the health, safety, and quality of imported Chinese products. This report provides an overview of this issue and implications for U.S.-China trade relations.
- Regulation of Energy Derivatives
- After the collapse of Enron Corp. in late 2001, that company's activities came under intense scrutiny. Much of its business consisted of trading financial contracts whose value was derived from changes in energy prices. Enron's derivatives trading was largely "over-the-counter" (OTC) and unregulated: little information about transactions was available. This incident has sparked interest in reform of energy derivatives regulation. This report summarizes energy derivatives regulation and proposed legislation.
- Outsourcing and Insourcing Jobs in the U.S. Economy: An Overview of Evidence Based on Foreign Investment Data
- Foreign direct investment is sparking a national debate. Local communities compete for investment projects, while many of the residents of those communities fear losing their jobs to foreign outsourcing. Some opponents argue that such job losses have disproportionately negative impact on local communities. Economists generally argue that free and unimpeded international capital flows have a positive impact on both domestic and foreign economies. This report provides an overview of CRS Report RL32461, Outsourcing and Insourcing Jobs in the U.S. Economy: Evidence Based on Foreign Investment Data, that analyzes the extent of direct investment into and out of the economy and the relationship between direct investment and the broader economic changes that are occurring in the U.S. economy.
- Outsourcing and Insourcing Jobs in the U.S. Economy: Evidence Based on Foreign Investment Data
- This report addresses the debate of job creation in the U.S. versus job outsourcing and its effects on the economy by analyzing the extent of direct investment into and out of the economy, the role such investment plays in U.S. trade, jobs, and production, and the relationship between direct investment and the broader economic changes that are occurring in the U.S. economy.
- Gasoline Prices: Legislation in the 110th Congress
- This report gives information related to the high prices of Gasoline and legislation in the 110th Congress.
- Days Reserved for Special Business in the House
- This report provides information about the Days Reserved for Special Business in the House.several provisions in the rules of the house provide for certain types of business to be privileged for consideration on special days.
- Memorials: Creating National, State, and Local Memorials
- This report provides information on the mandatory steps to building a memorial on federal property in the District of Columbia. It also provides information on creating memorials in Arlington National Cemetery, within the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery System, and in state veterans' cemeteries. In addition, it discusses public and private initiatives at the state and local levels to create memorials including successful local fund-raising efforts.
- DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
- The Department of Defense (DOD) in recent years has leased some foreign-built cargo ships for total periods, including options and renewals, of almost 10 years - a length of time that some observers argue effectively circumvents a legal requirement that U.S. military ships be built in U.S. shipyards. These observers, particularly the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), have proposed reducing the current five-year legal limit on ship leases to two years for foreign-built ships. DOD has opposed the idea, arguing that its ship leases are the most cost-effective way to meet its needs for the ships in question.
- "Price Gouging," the Antitrust Laws, and Vertical Integration in the Petroleum Industry: How They Are Related
- This report, which may be updated to further reflect congressional action, attempts to provide the antitrust context for prohibited practices, such as "price gouging"; notes prior congressional action concerning vertical divestiture in the petroleum industry; and provides information on the state "divorcement" statutes.
- Social Security: Trust Fund Investment Practices
- This report explains current Social Security trust fund investment practices and briefly describes the issues involved in changing how the trust funds are invested.
- The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases
- This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, a historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.
- Unemployment Insurance: Available Unemployment Benefits and Legislative Activity
- This report describes these five kinds of unemployment benefits: regular UC, TAA, EB, TEUC, and DUA. The report explains their basic eligibility requirements, benefits, and financing structure.
- The Federal Royalty and Tax Treatment of the Hardrock Mineral Industry: An Economic Analysis
- This report analyzes the economic issues underlying proposals to impose a royalty on hardrock (locatable) minerals on public domain lands. It also discusses the federal tax treatment of the hardrock mineral industry.
- Gasoline Prices: Causes of Increases and Congressional Response
- This report discusses the causes of increases in Gasoline Prices and also includes the Congressional response.
- Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastics and Possible Human Health Effects
- Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to produce certain types of plastic. Containers made of these plastics may expose people to small amounts of BPA in food and water. Some animal experiments have found that fetal and infant development may be harmed by small amounts of BPA, but scientists disagree about the value of the animal studies for predicting harmful effects in people. This report discusses this issue and relevant legislation, as well as inquiries into studies currently underway to determine the true harm inherent in BPA and the degree to which people are regularly exposed to BPA.
- Livestock Feed Costs: Concerns and Options
- Sharply higher feed costs, fueled by competing use demands for corn and soybeans and by rising energy prices, are affecting the beef, pork, dairy, and poultry industries. In contrast, wholesales prices for most animal products have held steady. Some analysts argue that current public policies, including financial incentives that divert corn from feed uses into ethanol production, have exacerbated if not caused these higher costs. Other factors include crop production declines due to weather, and higher global demand for consumption. Proposed options aimed at easing the impacts of higher feed costs include changes in ethanol incentives, use of conservation land for forage use, and direct aid to producers.
- The Enron Loophole
- The Commodity Exchange Act exempts certain energy derivatives contracts from regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). These exemptions are popularly known as the "Enron loophole." Soaring energy prices have raised concerns about whether the CFTC has enough information about these unregulated markets to monitor energy trading in a comprehensive manner. A number of other bills in the 110th Congress would impose new reporting or regulatory requirements on the bilateral energy swaps market, which was not addressed by the Farm Bill.
- Alternative Minimum Taxpayers by State: 2005, 2006, and Projections for 2008
- This report
- Primer on Energy Derivatives and Their Regulation
- Prices of oil and other energy commodities are set in futures and derivatives markets, where producers, commercial users, and financial speculators buy and sell contracts whose value is linked to the price of the underlying commodity. Trading occurs on regulated futures exchanges and in a largely unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) market; both forms of trading are global in scope. This report presents basic information about these markets, the instruments traded, the regulatory framework, speculation, and current legislative proposals.
- Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastics and Possible Human Health Effects
- Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to produce certain types of plastic. Containers made of these plastics may expose people to small amounts of BPA in food and water. Some animal experiments have found that fetal and infant development may be harmed by small amounts of BPA, but scientists disagree about the value of the animal studies for predicting harmful effects in people. This report discusses this issue and relevant legislation, as well as inquiries into studies currently underway to determine the true harm inherent in BPA and the degree to which people are regularly exposed to BPA.
- Energy Tax Policy: History and Current Issues
- This report discusses the history, current posture, and outlook for federal energy tax policy. It also discusses current energy tax proposals and major energy tax provisions enacted in the 109th Congress.
- Federal Programs Available to Unemployed Workers
- No Description Available.
- General Services Administration Prospectus Thresholds for Owned and Leased Federal Facilities
- The General Services Administration (GSA) oversees GSA-owned and -leased federal buildings and courthouses. This report provides an overview of the funding for GSA, GSA procedures, and related legislation, especially in light of recent disasters, i.e., hurricanes, flooding, etc.
- Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program: An Overview
- This report provides an overview of the manufacturing extension partnership.
- Merger Review Authority of the Federal Communications Commission
- This report will explain the merger review process at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission). Whenever companies holding licenses issued by the FCC wish to merge, the merging entities must obtain approval from two federal agencies: the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FCC. The Commission and the DOJ do not follow precisely the same process or reasoning when examining the potential effects of proposed mergers. The Act permits the Commission to grant the transfer only if the agency determines that the transaction would be in the public interest. The public interest standard is generally broader than the competition analysis authorized by the antitrust laws and conducted by the DOJ. Therefore, the Commission possesses greater latitude to examine other potential effects of a proposed merger beyond its possible effect on competition in the relevant market.
- Economic Slowdown: Issues and Policies
- This report first discusses the current state of the economy, including measures that have already been taken by the monetary authorities, and assesses the need for and potential consequences of fiscal stimulus. The second part of the report reviews the proposals discussed during debate on the recently enacted fiscal stimulus, both those adopted and those considered but not adopted.
- Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastics and Possible Human Health Effects
- Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to produce certain types of plastic. Containers made of these plastics may expose people to small amounts of BPA in food and water. Some animal experiments have found that fetal and infant development may be harmed by small amounts of BPA, but scientists disagree about the value of the animal studies for predicting harmful effects in people. This report discusses this issue and relevant legislation, as well as inquiries into studies currently underway to determine the true harm inherent in BPA and the degree to which people are regularly exposed to BPA.
- Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs): An Institutional Overview
- Congress chartered government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to improve the workings of credit markets. This report briefly describes the nature of GSEs, their mixed governmental-private nature, the differences between GSEs and government agencies, and the arguments for and against GSEs.
- U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Rising Oil Prices
- This report provides an estimate of the initial impact of the rising oil prices on the nation's merchandise trade deficit. Petroleum prices continued to rise sharply in 2008, at one time reaching more than $140 per barrel of crude oil. At the same time the average monthly volume of imports of energy-related petroleum products fell slightly.
- The FDA’s Authority to Recall Products
- This report provides information about the The FDA’s Authority to Recall Products. The FDA had fielded increasing number of question regarding recalls of unsafe imports, including jalapeno peppers.